New York risks losing its pre-eminence in the global financial sector unless government eases regulation and does something about excessive civil litigation, Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Schumer are warning.

In an opinion piece with a double byline in the Wall Street Journal titled “To Save New York, Learn From London,” the two politicians argued that while New York is still the dominant international financial center it is “losing ground as the leader in capital formation.”

The piece comes on the heels of a series of stories about London and New York, including one on the British capital’s booming financial service industry, which ran in The New York Sun. It also comes as city’s Economic Development Corporation is waiting on a report from McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm it hired for $600,000 to come up with strategies for increasing New York’s competitive edge.

Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican with a background on Wall Street, and Mr. Schumer, a Democrat with a seat on the Senate Finance Committee, laid out a case for re-examining the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which established a slew of post-Enron regulations for public companies that do business in America. They also said frivolous litigation needs to be curbed and international accounting standards should be adopted.

“There appears to be a worrisome trend of corporate leaders focusing on inordinate time on compliance minutiae rather than innovative strategies for growth, for fear of facing personal financial penalties from over-zealous regulators,” the two wrote.

The state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, who is expected to be elected New York’s new governor in less than a week, was not mentioned in the article. But his opponents have criticized him for being over-zealous in cracking down on corporations.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Bloomberg, Stuart Loeser, denied the Op-Ed was a criticism of Mr. Spitzer, saying it was about “the multiple levels of regulation not the regulators.” And, a spokesman for Mr. Spitzer, Christine Anderson, said the attorney general did not take it as criticism. She said he agrees with the need to protect the “preeminence of New York’s financial markets.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Bloomberg is scheduled to appear at the opening ceremonyfor a new British theme hotel and Gordon Ramsey restaurant on West 54th Street today called The London NYC.

A partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, John Olson, called the Schumer-Bloomberg piece “right on” and said he was glad to see two prominent politicians from different parties pushing for the reforms.

“It’s an issue that I’ve been worrying about a lot,” he said. “When I go to Europe and talk to clients over there they find the United States, as somebody told me, a high-risk country in which to have significant stake.”

A scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Peter Wallison, criticized the proposal on several fronts, but he said: “They are completely correct in their overall view that excessive regulation is the reason for the drift of financial activity away from New York.”

He also criticized Mr. Schumer, saying in his role in the Senate he is responsible for excessive regulation.

A spokeswoman for the senator, Risa Heller, said: “Sarbanes Oxley was passed 99-0 and signed by President Bush. Just because it needs correction does not mean it should not have been passed.” In the piece, the two men said that they would be reviewing the financial services situation over the next few months.